And the Kitten
by StruckkByColfer
Summary: Jake and Cassandra adopt a blind kitten. Pure fluffy fluff for fluff's sake. There really is no point to this except to fill your mind with images of Christian Kane playing with a kitten. You're welcome.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - This will be a series of short stories and drabbles that I update whenever I get hit with inspiration. The cat featured in this story is my own cat, because I have the greatest cat ever.**

* * *

"Come on, Jake. How can you say no to this face?" Cassandra held the tiny, grey and white kitten in her outstretched arms, mere inches from Jake's face.

"What exactly's _wrong_ with that face?" Jake asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. He raised his eyebrows at Cassandra, doing his best to ignore the kitten that was directly in front of him.

Cassandra gasped and hugged the kitten close to her body. "Be nice! It's not his fault he was born without any eyes," she brought the tiny creature to her lips and planted a kiss on the top of its head. "I think he's cute."

"Cassandra, let's think about this," Jake placed a hand on the small of his girlfriend's back and guided her towards the couch. They had been dating for several months now, but had only recently made the leap to living together. Jake wasn't sure why he was so surprised when Cassandra had come home that day carefully carrying the small bundle in her hands. He should have known she would be the type to bring home animals in need. "Are we really in a position to take care of a special needs kitten? The Library demands so much of our time as it is, we won't always be here to look after it."

"Jake, it's a cat. Eyes or no eyes, it's still a cat. The girl who gave him to me said there's nothing wrong with him. He's going to grow up perfectly healthy, he just needs people to love him," Cassandra's eyes were trained on the kitten curled up in her lap.

"I know, darlin', but still," Jake started. "What about when we're out on a mission for several days? Who's going to look after him?"

"We can ask that sweet old lady who lives next door to come in and check on him. I was talking to her the other day, I think she's lonely," Cassandra spoke with confidence. She had thought this through. "Would you be this worried if it was a normal cat? One with eyes?"

Jake thought for a moment. "I don't know. Maybe?"

"I always wanted a cat, Jake," Cassandra finally looked away from her lap to meet Jake's gaze, her eyes wide and childlike. "but my parents always thought pets were a waste of time."

"Aww, Cassie, don't do that. Don't give me the puppy dog eyes." Jake groaned. "You know I can't resist that look."

Cassandra smiled wide. "Well one thing's for sure," she placed the kitten in Jake's lap. "You don't have to worry about him giving you that look."

Jake smiled at that comment, and then started to chuckle as the kitten found the drawstring on his hoodie and started batting at it. "Hey, how'd he know that was there?"

"I told you, he's just like any other cat," Cassandra giggled. "He may not be able to see, but he has four other senses helping him out."

Jake smiled as he watched the kitten for a few minutes. After tiring of the hoodie string, the small ball of grey and white fluff found it's way to the edge of the couch. Jake gently set him on the floor before he could fall off.

"Now all we need is a name for the little guy," Cassandra said as they watched the kitten run around the floor. For an eyeless cat he scooted around pretty well, though it wasn't long before he got going too fast and crashed, head first into the side of the couch. Jake laughed as the kitten somersaulted to the side, got back up, and took off running in the other direction.

"Jack Tripper," he said with a smile.

"What?" Cassandra asked, just a little confused.

"Like the Three's Company character. Jack Tripper. He was always falling over the couch like that."

"Jack Tripper?" Cassandra repeated, then giggled as the kitten repeated the same stunt, this time with the wall on the opposite side of the room. "I like it."


	2. Chapter 2

"Why do I have to do this again?" Jake asked as he glanced over his shoulder, hoping that no one else was around to see him.

"All the articles I read said that it's good to stimulate Jack's senses, especially while he's so young," Cassandra answered.

"Yeah, but why can't we do that inside?" Cassandra had dragged Jake and the kitten outside to the communal garden behind their apartment building. It was bad enough that she insisted the two of them started taking Jack for regular walks, but somehow Jake had found himself the one holding the leash. He could only hope that none of their neighbours came outside and saw him.

"There's no place better than the garden, Jake. There's so much for him to smell and hear out here."

Jake sighed. "I look ridiculous."

"Well _I_ think you look adorable," Cassandra smiled and looped her arm with his. Jake couldn't help but return the smile. He still felt ridiculous, but if his Cassie was happy then it was all worth it.

"This isn't like walking a dog, that's for sure," Jake said after a few minutes. The two of them had been standing in the same spot watching as Jack explored a very small patch of the garden, alternating between smelling the same two flowers over and over again.

Almost as if on cue, Jack suddenly sensed something on the other side of the garden. The small kitten quickly leapt into the air and took off, hopping like a rabbit across the small yard, dragging Jake behind him. Cassandra chased after the pair, giggling the entire time.

"You're right, this is definitely not like walking a dog," she laughed when she finally caught up to them.

"What do you think got into him?" Jake asked curiously. Once they had reached the other side of the garden the kitten had returned to his subdued manner, and was now stretched out on his side in a small patch of dirt.

"I don't know. Maybe he heard something that we couldn't?" Cassandra suggested.

After another minute Jack jumped up again and dragged Jake back to the side of the garden they had originated from, once again hopping across the grass instead of running.

"Are you sure Jack Tripper is the right name for him?" Cassandra asked Jake. She had given up chasing her two boys and had taken a seat on the grass where she could easily watch their antics. "Maybe Jumping Jack is more like it."

Jake laughed as he ran past her. He couldn't believe how much difficulty he was having keeping up with a two month old, _blind_ kitten. "It's hard to believe this is the same cat that was crashing into our couch last week."

They stayed outside for an hour. Jake couldn't believe how quickly the time had passed.

"See, that wasn't so bad now, was it?" Cassandra asked when they returned to their apartment.

Jake shrugged. "I guess we can go back out tomorrow, seeing as it's what all the articles say we need to do." Cassandra beamed at him. "But, you're holding the leash next time."

"Jake, no one's going to think you're any less of a man just because they see you walking a cat."

"No, I know. But that was exhausting! Tomorrow it's your turn to chase after the cat. I want to be the one sitting on the grass," he said with a chuckle.

"Apparently you're not the only one who thinks so," Cassandra motioned to the spot on the couch where Jake had set the kitten down after they had returned home. Jack had curled up into a ball and was fast asleep.

"I have to admit, I had my hesitations, but that kitten is pretty damn cute," Jake said as he came up behind Cassandra and wrapped his arms around her waist. She tilted her neck up and smiled at him.

"Told ya so," she said with a smirk.

"Yes, you did," Jake smiled and placed a kiss on the top of Cassandra's head, content to just stand there and watch the small kitten sleep forever.


	3. Chapter 3

Jake collapsed into the nearest comfortable chair, too exhausted to walk all the way into the bedroom. It was almost three in the morning and he and Cassandra were just getting home after a particularly rough case. Jake wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep, or to at least get a bit of sleep before they had to wake up again in a few hours. He just needed to find the energy to get himself out of the chair and into their bed.

Cassandra, on the other hand, seemed to have a bit more energy. Jake spent a couple minutes watching her with one eyebrow raised as she crawled around on the floor of their living room, peeking under the couch and easy chairs. When she crawled over to the chair he was sitting on, he finally had to ask.

"Darlin', what are you doing exactly?"

"I'm looking for Jack," she answered. "Maybe he's in the bedroom…" she disappeared down the hall only to return a moment later looking a little disheartened. "I can't find him anywhere."

Jake finally hoisted himself out of the chair and made his way over to his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her and redirecting her back towards the bedroom.

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere," he reassured her. "He's probably sleeping, just like we should be doing."

"I haven't seen him since we left this morning, though," Cassandra still worried. "He's never gone this long without having at least one of us here."

"I hate to say it, but it doesn't seem like he missed us all that much," Jake said with a chuckle. "Since he's not running to greet us and all."

Cassandra sighed as she got into bed. "I know logically he's probably fine, but I'm still a little worried."

"I have all the confidence in the world that he'll be running around this place in the morning, just like he does every day," Jake crawled into bed next to her. "But on the off chance he's not, we'll search every nook and cranny of this place, and we won't leave until we know he's safe."

That seemed to be enough to ease Cassandra's mind, and before too long they had both drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

It was still early when Jake woke up. The alarm clock they set hadn't gone off yet and it was still dark in their bedroom. Or, he thought it was dark. Something wasn't right.

"What the…" he mumbled, getting a mouthful of fur as soon as he opened his mouth. "Jack?"

Jacob reached up to find that the cat had made himself comfortable right on top of his face. He purred loudly, obviously a lot more comfortable than Jake was at the moment.

"Honey, what is it?" Cassandra asked as she woke up beside him. When she realized what was happening she started to giggle and gently picked the cat up off Jake's face. "Silly Jackers. I guess you did miss us after all."

"Yeah, and he's trying to hold me down so I can't leave the apartment ever again," Jake sat up and brushed the fur off his face. With the cat removed, he was able to see that it actually was light outside after all.

"I suppose you'll be wanting some breakfast now," Cassandra asked sweetly.

"Yeah, I'm starved. I was too tired to eat last night and…" Jake looked over to see Cassandra still cuddling Jack close to her. "you're not talking to me, are you?"

"Hmm?" Cassandra looked over at Jake beside her. "You say something?"

"Just that you two look so cute right now," he smiled at her. "Hungry? Want me to make pancakes?"

Cassandra nodded eagerly and the three of them got out of bed to start yet another busy day.


End file.
